BRAZILIAN authorities have detained two French men who climbed on top of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue to watch the sunset while the monument was closed.

Clement Dumais, 28, and Paul Roux-dit-Buisson, 27, entered the site of the towering 38 meters monument Sunday evening and hid until closing time.

They then snuck inside the statue under cover of night, climbed a long spiral staircase and came out through a hatch on one of the arms to enjoy the view of the city and Guanabara Bay. The statue’s outstretched arms span 27 meters.

The adventure ended when one of the security guards at the site noticed the men, who had no choice but to surrender to the authorities once they had climbed down.

The men have a history of performing outrageous stunts and climbing to dizzying heights in urban landscapes.

They have staged similar feats at iconic architectural sites in locations such as Dubai, New York, and Paris and documented their adventures on social media, where they have gained hundreds of thousands of followers.

The Christ the Redeemer statue is situated on Sugarloaf mountain and overlooks Rio de Janeiro.

It is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions and receives over two million visits per year.

“The view was nice. Few people get a chance to see that,” Roux-dit-Buisson said, “We were able to get inside the skin of Christ.”

The two men were detained Monday and released after posting 10,000 reais (US$1,900) in bail. The two will now have to appear before a judge.

Tourism police in Rio de Janeiro declined to comment, saying they were looking into the incident.

Police have confiscated all the photos and videos the men had taken while on top of the Rio statue, but the climbers say they have no regrets.

(SD-Agencies)